As in the case of many other agricultural commodities, green coffee beans are subject to the inherent problem of insect contamination. Upon receipt of a bag of green coffee beans, it has usually been found that a certain number of small live insects are contained therein. Generally, the contamination ranges from about 1 to 15 insects per bag of green coffee beans. Such insect contamination is usually in excess of FDA guidelines for green coffee bean imports. Therefore, removal of the live insects from the green coffee beans in extremely important.
A prior art method for removing the insects is to fumigate the green coffee beans with methyl bromide. Fumigation with methyl bromide presents two problems. First, fumigation with methyl bromide involves contact between beverage materials and chemicals, which is normally avoided where possible. Second, the cost of methyl bromide fumigation is extremely high. Therefore, an alternative to fumigation with methyl bromide is extremely desirable.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method for separating small live insects from green coffee beans or similar sized agricultural commodities without the use of chemical additives, in particular, methyl bromide.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for separating small live insects from green coffee beans or similar sized agricultural commodities which is efficient and yet relatively inexpensive.
These and other objects of the present invention are disclosed hereinafter.